Art for a New Understanding, an exhibition from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opening this October, seeks to radically expand and reposition the narrative of American art since 1950 by charting a history of the development of contemporary Indigenous art from the United States and Canada, beginning when artists moved from more regionally-based conversations and practices to national and international contemporary art contexts.This accompanying book documents and expands on the histories and themes of this exciting exhibition. This fully illustrated volume includes essays by art historians and historians and reflections by the artists included in the collection. Also included are key contemporary writings-from the 1950s onward-by artists, scholars, and critics, investigating the themes of transculturalism and pan-Indian identity, traditional practices conducted in radically new ways, displacement, forced migration, shadow histories, the role of personal mythologies as a means to reimagine the future, and much more. As both a survey of the development of Indigenous art from the 1950s to the present and a consideration of Native artists within contemporary art more broadly, Art for a New Understanding expands the definition of American art and sets the tone for future considerations of the subject. It is an essential publication for any institution or individual with an interest in contemporary Native American art, and an invaluable resource in ongoing scholarly considerations of the American contemporary art landscape at large.

Zhao Wenbing provides an accessible, illustrated introduction to the sculptural art of China, including the magnificent Terracotta Army, Buddhist sculpture, tomb carvings, architectural sculpture, exchange with foreign cultures and Chinese sculpture today. Chinese Sculpture takes the reader through the unique aesthetic features of sculpture in China, arguing that the evolution of this sculpture parallels the development of Chinese culture through history.

Han Jiantang provides an accessible, illustrated introduction to the fascinating history and development of the written Chinese language, from pictograms painted on rocks and pottery and ancient inscriptions to the refined art of calligraphy and the characters in use today. Chinese Characters will appeal to readers looking for an introduction to the rich but complex Chinese language and to all those interested in the relationship between language and culture.

World is Africa brings together more than 30 important texts by Eddie Chambers, who for several decades has been an original and a critical voice within the field of African diaspora art history. The texts range from book chapters and catalogue essays, to shorter texts. Chambers focuses on contemporary artists and their practices, from a range of international locations, who for the most part are identified with the African diaspora. None of the texts are available online and none have been available outside of the original publication in which they first appeared. The volume contains several new pieces of writing, including a consideration of the art world 'fetishization' of the 1980s, as the manifestation of a reluctance to accept the majority of Black British artists as valid individual practitioners, choosing instead to shackle them to exhibitions that took place three decades ago. Another new text re-examines the 'map paintings' of Frank Bowling, the Guyana-born artist who was the subject of a major retrospective at Tate Britain in 2019. The third introduces the little-known record sleeve illustrations of Charles White, the American artist who was the subject of a major retrospective in 2018 at major galleries across the US. Among the other new texts is a critical reflection on the patronage the Greater London Council extended to Black artists in 1980s London. World is Africa makes a valuable contribution to the emerging discipline of black British art history, the field of African diaspora studies and African diaspora art history.

Traditional Chinese painting was fundamentally an abstract art form. Artists did not seek to represent direct copies of the natural world; rather, traditional Chinese paintings sought to portray the harmony between the natural world and human emotion, evoking ancient Chinese philosophy. From ancient scroll paintings to Buddhist grottoes to modern art, Lin Ci explores the history, theory and development of distinctive styles of Chinese painting, illustrated throughout with full color examples of these unique, treasured works of art.

Featuring 14 artists and one artist-collaborative duo, What About the Art?: Contemporary Art from China examines the contributions of Chinese artists to the international canon of contemporary art, focusing on their innovations. Hu Xiangqian, Hu Zhijun, Xu Bing, Jenova Chen, Li Liao, Jennifer Wen Ma, Zhou Chunya, Yang Fudong, Liang Shaoji, Xu Zhen, Liu Xiaodong, Liu Wei, Wang Jianwei, Huang Yong Ping and Sun Yuan and Peng Yu all have their works showcased in this book.

A visionary new approach to the Americas during the age of colonization, made by engaging with the aural aspects of supposedly "silent" images Colonial depictions of the North and South American landscape and its indigenous inhabitants fundamentally transformed the European imagination-but how did those images reach Europe, and how did they make their impact? In Sound, Image, Silence, noted art historian Michael Gaudio provides a groundbreaking examination of the colonial Americas by exploring the special role that aural imagination played in visible representations of the New World. Considering a diverse body of images that cover four hundred years of Atlantic history, Sound, Image, Silence addresses an important need within art history: to give hearing its due as a sense that can inform our understanding of images. Gaudio locates the noise of the pagan dance, the discord of battle, the din of revivalist religion, and the sublime sounds of nature in the Americas, such as lightning, thunder, and the waterfall. He invites readers to listen to visual media that seem deceptively couched in silence, offering bold new ideas on how art historians can engage with sound in inherently "mute" media. Sound, Image, Silence includes readings of Brazilian landscapes by the Dutch painter Frans Post, a London portrait of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison's early Kinetoscope film Sioux Ghost Dance, and the work of Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School of American landscape painting. It masterfully fuses a diversity of work across vast social, cultural, and spatial distances, giving us both a new way of understanding sound in art and a powerful new vision of the New World.

Alfred C. Haddon began his study of these native fabrics and garments with the collection in the Sarawak museum, Kuching, of which many of the patterns had been identified. His own collection, supplemented by one purchased for him from Dr Charles Hose, is now in the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. These sources, together with an examination of the cloths in the British Museum, formed the basis of this memoir, which was originally published by Cambridge University Press in 1936. This was the first time that the beautiful and intimate patterns of Iban textiles had been investigated and illustrated. Laura E. Start contributed a full technical description of the manufacture of the fabrics and provided all the drawings.

An illustrated study of traditional and figurative art of Africa that reflects the continent's rich artistic and cultural heritage. "African Art" explores the continent's marvelous artistic achievements which share its roots with humanities origins. Sculpture has historically been the chief means of artistic expression. The human figure, whether real or symbolic, is almost the exclusive subject of African art. This vast world of African sculpture is the result of an evolutionary process, based on humanity's rich history and diversity deriving from migrations, wars, and alliances. During the last century, the African continent has experienced radical transformations in the fields of social and political organizations, the economy and religions. Inevitably, new artistic forms are being established simultaneously with the globalization process and the creation of works for the art market, which retain less and less ties with those of the past. "African Art" is an exhaustive presentation of the traditional figurative arts of Africa and concisely explains their distinguishing historical, formal, symbolic and functional characteristics. A truly valuable source of inspiration for students, collectors, and travelers alike, this book is complete with a glossary and bibliography.

The study of the cattle-horned initiation masks of southern Senegal and the Gambia innovatively weaves together art history, history, and cultural anthropology to give a detailed view of Casamance cultures, as they have interacted and changed over the past two centuries. Based on seven field trips to West Africa and fifteen years of research in colonial archives and in museum collections from Dakar to Leipzig, Professor Mark's work presents a subtle interpretation of Casamance horned masquerades, their complex ritual symbolism, and the metaphysical concepts to which they allude. (The masks protect against the power of the kussay, or "sorcerers.") In tracing the cultural interaction and changing identity of the peoples of the Casamance, the author convincingly argues for a new and dynamic approach to art and ethnic identity. Culture should be seen, not as a fixed entity, but as a continuing process. This dynamic model reflects the long history of interaction between Manding and Diola and between Muslim and non-Muslim, a process that has resulted in the creation of hybrid masking forms.

Alfred Wallis spent most of his life in the Cornish ports of Newlyn, Penzance and St Ives, and went to sea as a young man. His main occupation was as a dealer in marine supplies and he was in his seventies before he took up painting 'for company'. He sold his works for a few pence, and died in the poorhouse. Wallis is now recognised as one of the most original British artists of the twentieth century, the directness of his 'primitive' vision and the object-like quality of his paintings being highly valued. This book revises previous accounts of Wallis's life in the light of new research and traces the development of his painting over seventeen years. It also looks at the mythology that grew up around Wallis and at the sustained interest in the irascible eccentric whose work affected a generation of British artists.

Ancient Chinese architecture is not only a source of reference for modern Chinese design, it has also had an international influence and attracted global attention. Moreover, architectural remains in China reveal much about the history of this ancient civilisation. The palaces, gardens, temples, tombs and dwellings of the Chinese people reflect, for example, the military achievements of the Qin emperor, the spirit of the Tang Dynasty, the palace intrigues of the Ming Dynasty, the diversity of Chinese culture through the ages and the skill of countless generations of craftsmen and labourers. Chinese Architecture provides an accessible, illustrated introduction to this essential part of China's cultural heritage.

This unique collection takes a fresh look at Orientalism by shifting its center from Europe to Ottoman Istanbul and thinking about art in terms of exchange, reciprocity, and comparative imperialisms. This new lens reveals the essential role of the Ottoman city and its patrons and artists in the dialogues that facilitated production, circulation, and consumption of British Orientalist cultures. In this volume, art works are conceptualized as travelling artefacts produced through localized interactions. World renowned scholars and curators analyse the diverse audiences for such art works and the range of differing contexts for their reception both in the nineteenth century and more recently. In this way, British art is put into a dynamic relationship with an historicised understanding of cultures of collecting and display during the formation of comparative modernities and also with the contemporary postcolonial creation of new national models of exhibition and education.

Featuring stunning visuals, this book puts art history in the context of cultural, visual, and literary studies, challenging the orthodoxies of postcolonial theory with the materiality of multiple imperialisms and modernities to offer a new take on the collection, display and consumption of Orientalist cultures.

Zeynep Inankur is a professor of art history at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul and coauthor of "Constantinople and the Orientalists." Reina Lewis is Artscom Centenary Professor of Cultural Studies at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, and author of "Rethinking Orientalism: Women, Travel and the Ottoman Harem." Mary Roberts is the John Schaeffer Associate Professor of British Art at the University of Sydney and author of "Intimate Outsiders: The Harem in Ottoman" and "Orientalist Art and Travel Literature." Other contributors include Tim Barringer, Edhem Eldem, Ahmet Ersoy, Semra Germaner, Aykut Gurcaglar, Teresa Heffernan, Briony Llewellyn, Nancy Micklewright, Peter Benson Miller, Donald Preziosi, Gunsel Renda, Christine Riding, Sarah Searight, Wendy Shaw, and Nicholas Tromans.

"This rich collection of essays displays a host of new ideas, questions, and insights that spring from centering the study of British and Ottoman Orientalist art in Istanbul, not London, and in a particularly Ottoman milieu of connection, collaboration, and reinvention." -Leslie Peirce, New York University

"Opens a new window to the study of Orientalist art with a series of intriguing case studies drawn from the nineteenth century British and late Ottoman visual cultures and] discussions of contemporary art markets and the politics of curating." -Zeynep Celik, New Jersey Institute of Technology"

This ground-breaking book explores the revolution thats transformed New Zealand museums in recent decades, and is influencing how museums worldwide care for indigenous objects. Drawing on practical examples and interviews with professionals from all kinds of institutions, Dr Conal McCarthy lifts the lid on current practice. How do museum professionals deal with the indigenous objects in their care from day to day? How do they engage with tribal communities? How do they meet the needs of visitors, as well as these communities? The first critical study of its kind, Museums and Maori is an indispensible resource for professionals, students, academics, and museum supporters.

Art and Judaism During the Greco-Roman Period explores the Jewish experience with art during the Greco-Roman period from the Hellenistic period through the rise of Islam. It starts from with the premise that Jewish art in antiquity was a "minority" or "ethnic" art and surveys ways that Jews fully participated in, transformed, and at times rejected the art of their general environment. Art and Judaism focuses upon the politics of identity during the Greco-Roman period, even as it discusses ways that modern identity issues have sometimes distorted and at other times refined scholarly discussion of ancient Jewish material culture. Art and Judaism, the first historical monograph on ancient Jewish art in forty years, evaluates earlier scholarship even as it sets out in new directions. Placing literary sources in careful dialogue with archaeological discoveries, this "New Jewish Archaeology" is an important contribution to Judaic Studies, Religious Studies, Art History, and Classics. The Revised Edition includes a new introduction, additional images, and color plates.

The origins of rock art in Australia are probably as old as that of the hunter-gatherers of Western Europe, well-known for the prehistoric caves of Altamira and Lascaux. That the practice of painting and engraving on rocks continues in parts of northern and central Australia emphasises the importance of this art as a source of visual information for Australia's indigenous communities, Rock art can be 'read' to determine cultural processes and provides a durable record of thousands of years of cultural change. This book is an extensive survey of Australian rock art, presenting detailed case studies revealing the significance of both recent and ancient art for Australia's living indigenous communities. Archaeological data provides evidence of the ways in which rock art traditions have changed over 15,000 or more years in response to changes in the environment, the development of new forms of social organisation and the impact of European colonial settlement.

As one of the unavoidable realities of human existence, death is also one of the oldest and most common themes in the history of art. From Egyptian tomb paintings and battle scenes on Greek vases by anonymous artists, to depictions of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus by the great Renaissance masters, to contemporary encounters with these subjects by such artists as Damien Hirst and Andres Serrano, the contents of this book highlight three thousand years of the iconography of death and resurrection. While focusing on the Western artistic tradition, the book also includes many artworks from Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
De Pascale explores depictions of these two subjects thematically, through chapters on violent death, ceremonial tributes to the departed, allegorical depictions of death, and the journey to the afterlife. The book concludes with an examination of symbolic representations of the victory of life over death.
see page 187, FALL 08 CATALOG, for style]
Also in the series:
The History of the Church in Art
978-0-89236-936-2
$24.95 (03), paperback
Food and Feasting in Art
978-0-89236-914-0
$24.95 (03), paperback
Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art
978-0-89236-907-2
$24.95 (03), paperback
Gardens in Art
978-0-89236-885-3
$24.95 (03), paperback
Artists' Techniques and Materials
978-0-89236-860-0
$24.95 (03), paperback
Icons and Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church
978-0-89236-845-7
$24.95 (03), paperback
Angels and Demons in Art
978-0-89236-830-3
$24.95 (03), paperback
Symbols and Allegories in Art
978-0-89236-818-1
$24.95 (03), paperback
Old Testament Figures in Art
978-0-89236-745-0
$24.95 (03), paperback
Nature and Its Symbols
978-0-89236-772-6
$24.95 (03), paperback
Gospel Figures in Art
978-0-89236-727-6
$24.95 (03), paperback
Saints in Art
978-0-89236-717-7
$24.95 (03), paperback
Gods and Heroes in Art
978-0-89236-702-3
$24.95 (03), paperback

Comprising thousands of islands and hundreds of cultural groups, Polynesia and Micronesia cover a large part of the vast Pacific Ocean, from the dramatic mountains of Hawaii to the small, flat coral islands of Kiribati. This new volume in the acclaimed Oxford History of Art series offers a superb introduction to the rich artistic traditions of these two regions, traditions that have had a considerable impact on modern western art through the influence of artists such as Gauguin. After an introduction to Polynesian and Micronesian art separately, the book focuses on the artistic types, styles, and concepts shared by the two island groups, thereby placing each in its wider cultural context. From the textiles of Tonga to the canoes of Tahiti, Adrienne Kaeppler sheds light on religious and sacred rituals and objects, carving, architecture, tattooing, personal ornaments, basket-making, clothing, textiles, fashion, the oral arts, dance, music and musical instruments--even canoe-construction--to provide the ultimate introduction to these rich and vibrant cultures. Each chapter begins with a quote from an indigenous person from one of the island areas covered in the book and features both historic and contemporary works of art. A timeline for migration into the Pacific includes the latest information from archaeology, as well as the influx of explorers and missionaries and important exhibitions and other artistic events. With more than one hundred illustrations--most in full color--this volume offers a stimulating and insightful account of two dynamic artistic cultures.

The Oregon artist Nelson Sandgren (1917-2006) worked in three distinct media - oil painting, watercolor, and lithography - distinguishing himself in each of these modes throughout his sixty-five-year career. Nelson Sandgren: An Artist's Life is the first in-depth study of this mid-century Oregon modernist who was born in Canada, grew up in Chicago, and moved with his family to Oregon during the Depression. As a watercolorist who loved to paint on site, often on the Oregon coast, Sandgren worked in the tradition of Winslow Homer and John Marin. In oil painting, he combined modernist abstraction with Pacific Northwest landscape imagery, in this practice paralleling Louis Bunce, Carl Morris, and other Oregon moderns. As a lithographer, Sandgren was central to the printmaking culture that Gordon Gilkey promoted at Oregon State university, where Sandgren taught for thirty-eight years. Roger Hull provides a detailed biography and a close analysis of Sandgren's key artworks while demonstrating Sandgren's significant place in Pacific Northwest modernist tradition.

In the 1960s, art patron Dominique de Menil founded an image archive showing the ways that people of African descent have been represented in Western art. Highlights from her collection appeared in three large-format volumes that quickly became collector's items. A half-century later, Harvard University Press and the Du Bois Institute are proud to publish a complete set of ten sumptuous books, including new editions of the original volumes and two additional ones. Black Models and White Myths examines the tendentious racial assumptions behind representations of Africans that emphasized the contrast between "civilization" and "savagery" and the development of so-called scientific and ethnographic racism. These works often depicted Africans within a context of sexuality and exoticism, representing their allegedly natural behavior as a counterpoint to inhibited European conduct.